Silence
by sillesick
Summary: Can a relationship form in silence?
1. Not Knowing

Tiltle: Silence

Disclaimer—I don't own Sailor Moon, or any show.

Chapter 1—Not Knowing

It was a very hot night. Even now that the sun had set, the air was heavy enough to choke on. Rei Hino lay back on her bed, supine and listless—it had been a long day of chores under the sun. She was content to simply lay back and enjoy doing nothing. She closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. But sleep did not come.

Instead an image of a lovely blonde with a pretty red ribbon flitted through her mind. The girl was looking back coyly as she ran away. Rei opened her eyes. She sighed. She knew what would end up happening tonight. It was a regular routine.

"Minako," she growled lowly, and allowed her eyes to close again. She had so many ways to do this. What should Minako wear tonight? A tiny black dress with black stockings? Or one of the light cotton skirts she liked to wear; the type that danced in the air and teased Rei with their scant length? Or maybe she should be vulnerable, in her underwear…the flower print bras and thongs Rei knew from countless shopping trips and shared fitting rooms that she wore…

What should Minako say tonight? "Take me." "I want you." "I love you, Reiko." "Don't stop! Don't stop, I need you, oh! I need you Reiko."

The phone was ringing, shrilly. It took every ounce of hard-earned self-discipline to take that steadying breath and pick it up. Her voice was low and raspy as she spoke, "Hello, Hikawa Shrine."

"_Rei-_ko."

The raven-haired miko's eyes widened, _I need you, Reiko, _"Mina- chan." The giggle at the other end of the line caused Rei to swallow audibly.

"One and only! You'd better not be sleeping, Reiko. It's a _Friday. _Friday only comes around once a week, you know!"

"I'm aware of how a week works, Minako."

The girl only scoffed playfully, "So were you sleeping?"

Rei only rolled her black-violet eyes derisively, "Trust me, I wasn't sleeping."

"Good!" Minako smiled and twirled her phone cord, "So why don't you come pick me up? We could go see a movie or something."

Was there ever even a chance she'd say no? This was really getting ridiculous. The miko opened the rusty old door of her grandfather's ancient car… it was her father's first, too. But she was using it now. Using it mostly to fulfill Minako's capricious whims.

Her grandfather was shocked to find she'd wanted it. She always refused it before. What was she supposed to say? "The girl I love, little ditzy Minako, made some passing comment about us needing cars; about every teenager needing a car. She told me how Haruka had taken her on a joyride in her shiny new convertible. I might never be able to afford that, but I can have this rusty old thing."

Rei had to admit she did like the feeling driving gave her. Like this, at night with few cars on the road. And of course, there was always something magical about pulling into Mina's nice house and honking twice to call her out. Then she'd lean back and count the seconds; Mina always raced down, ever eager to leave her home.

As the car door clicked closed, Rei felt arms around her—the blonde had always been so touchy with her. Rei didn't know if it was only wishful thinking or…but what else could it be?

"Hello, Reiko." Mina turned her head up from the nook of Rei's neck to kiss her china-doll pale cheek.

Rei could only clear her throat and silently miss the contact, as the blonde pulled her silky head away. "So where to?"

Minako bit her lip, "I suddenly don't feel like a movie. Take me somewhere else. Somewhere wonderful."

Rei chuckled lowly as she began to drive, "God, are you vague."

"I'm only trying to be mysterious and spontaneous for my Reiko," Mina winked and blew the girl a kiss.

"Yes, but what you call mysterious and spontaneous borders on lunacy for normal people."

Minako only pouted, "Rei! I've only been in your car for 5 minutes and you've already insulted me twice, do you realize that?"

"Sorry," Rei grumbled, partly because she knew her confused emotions made her moody and often too harsh around her best friend and partly because she was terrible at apologies.

"Not good enough," Mina smirked in that infuriating way she did, "I want some compliments to cancel out all that negativity."

Rei bit her lip and gave Mina a sideways glance, initially to reproach her, but she paused when she took in what the girl was wearing. She quickly turned her eyes back to the road, _no sense in us dying over a glimpse, _"I like you in jean skirts, you know."

Minako nodded, satisfied by the praise, "Why, thank you." She leaned forward and turned on the radio, switching to a pop station she knew Rei pretended to dislike.

For a time they enjoyed the ride in their lovely silence. With them the things that weren't said were the most important of all. Their banter was full of walls and dead ends, like a silly maze. It was a dirty art they'd perfected long ago, and learned to love and resent with equal fervor. But when they both stopped talking, and simply shared the air, the music, the heat. That was what spoke volumes.

Unfortunately, silence wasn't ever as sure or concrete as words. Words like, "I love you," for instance.

Minako smiled a secret, silly grin and rolled the window down. Sure enough the smell of salt air hit her nostrils; pungent and suggestive like her Reiko. She spoke in a sing-song voice, "I-know-where-you're-taking-me-e-e-e."

"Oh, yeah," Rei challenged, "Where is that, then?"

"Only to my most favorite spot in the entire world," Mina reached a hand out the window to feel that sweet wind rush through her fingers, "No one will be there tonight."

Rei nodded, she'd heard some popular boy in Mina's school was throwing a big party, "Why aren't you at that party too?"

Mina frowned for a second; it seemed like such a ridiculous question, "Because I knew I could get you to do something like this with me instead."

Rei scoffed ruefully as she pulled into the beach's empty parking lot, "Your powers of manipulation should never be underestimated."

"Not when it comes to you, Reiko."

The two stepped out of the car excitedly. For her part, Rei hadn't realized how badly she had needed a hot, windy, sandy night at the beach with the girl she adored. This time, when the smaller girl latched onto her arm, as if Rei was her beau, she didn't scoff or make a derisive comment. She only smiled with pride and allowed herself to enjoy it. She only closed her eyes and imagined a reality where this might be a legitimate date, and she was carefully courting the small blonde.

"Don't be quiet now, Reiko. I want to hear your voice."

Rei cleared her throat, "…When you put me on the spot like that, I can't think of anything to say."

"Well you certainly looked like your brain was active. What were you thinking of?" Minako ran her hands down from where they were hanging onto Rei's bicep to her hand, and held it in between, swinging the miko's arm back and forth.

"I uh, I was thinking, my inquisitive one, that we should find a nice place in the sand to sit and talk."

"Good idea, Reiko!" Minako was beaming now, "Let's go by the rocks, where I first learned about your fear of waves!"

"Not afraid!" Rei fumed slightly, "I'm just not a strong swimmer, you know I don't like the water."

Minako only laughed and tugged at the girl's hand, pushing her down into that spot they'd been to so many times before. The horizon was so blue it was nearly black. Sky and ocean melted together into a single hue. The blonde sighed deeply, breathing in the ocean as a whole, and then threw herself onto her best friend and soul mate. "Reiko you smell just like the beach sometimes. After work, if you've been sweating…"

"Don't be gross, Mina."

"No, it's true," the girl persisted, she felt a little drunk and giddy, "And it's sexy, anyway."

Rei only sighed and looked up at the nearly starless night sky, covered with clouds; muddled and overcast as her own head. "It might rain," she murmured, but she knew Minako wasn't paying attention. She never did when she laid on top of her like this, innocent as a cherub angel. Rei hated the feelings she had, when her sweet friend cuddled into her neck—when she pressed her lips and eyelashes into the space between her neck and collarbone; murmuring sweet nothings, squeezing Rei tight with her hands around her waist. And what did Rei do? Lie there and secretly want to roll her over, press Minako hard into the sand, stare straight into those flirtatious blue eyes, convey all the hidden feelings with her own black-violet orbs and, and then…

She didn't even really know.


	2. Angel in the Sea Foam

Chapter 2:Angel in the Sea Foam

Minako blew pitifully into her chamomile tea, her pouting lips hovering over the delicate rim, "I do feel bad about it sometimes… the constant teasing."

The androgynous figure that she shared the small coffeeshop table with shot her a look that was singularly skeptical.

"Don't look at me that way Haruka-_kun_!" The blonde pouted further, "I really don't mean to tease Reiko. It's just my only way of getting to her, is all. She's so stoic, and calm, and brave; she never lusts after me like others do. But I can at the very least fluster her."

Haruka sipped her coffee calmly, she hated these talks. They forced her to be subtle and oblique with her words. She didn't used to be, she used to be very candid with her advice to her young friend—until Michiru lectured her on the ethics of interfering so directly with the romantic affairs of her friends and comrades. "Oi, Mina-chan…I don't think Rei is as brave or calm as you're giving her credit for…"

"Oh, she is!" The blonde's hands were clasped to her cheeks, her eyes a cerulean swirl, as idyllic as a grass field at midnight, "She is the bravest person I know, and honorable and disciplined and pure…that's why she could never want me."

"Love's made you blind and idealistic." The sandy haired woman flinched; her words sounded harsher than she'd meant them to.

"What would you know about it?" Minako interjected kindly, "You've been with Michiru too long to remember what it was like…and you two are perfect together."

Haruka's eyes first widened in surprise, then became gentle, "Michiru and I have the benefit of being older, that's all."

The blonde's childish pout and sigh were telling of her age, she was only a girl with grown-up emotions. Her eyes became a pallid blue, lacking the smiling soul that was their trademark, "You have the benefit of her loving you back. _That's _the difference."

--------

Beneath the cherry blossom tree, she sat in the perfect lotus position. Her mind spurned the tepid weather, the sweet smell of the tree, the wind that stroked her silky black hair, the grass that cushioned her…but it could not cast off one image.

That last night at the beach; Minako, an angel rising from the waves.

The blonde had tried, as she always did, to get Rei to swim with her.

"The water will feel good on our skin, Reiko!" Her girlish laughter danced with the wind in the night air. Her hair was a white blonde of incandescent sheen, as if the moon had chosen only her to shine on. And those eyes; Rei was forever seeing her reflection in them. Her pale, petrified countenance was so undeserving of lying within that warm blue.

"No, you go," she choked on her words as she spoke, "I'll watch you from here."

And she did, as she had countless times before. She could have closed her eyes and seen that whimsical vision just as well.

She knew how the blonde liked to take her red ribbon off, and fling it at Rei with flirtatious, half-lidded eyes. And then that white-blonde hair came down in rivulets, down to her waist in the most graceful of waves. Rei's fingers would then ache to touch the golden strands. She wouldn't. Instead she buried her hands in the soft sand. As she felt the silver grains tickle the lengths of her fingers, she thought that Minako's hair might go through her hands like sand, or silk.

With a wink and some laughter, the blonde would run nimbly towards the sea. As she did so, she would deftly unbutton her short jean skirt and let it fall to the sand. Her thin orange shirt would come next, flung to the wind, flying for a while before it too fell and became buried somewhere in the sand.

And then Minako would reach the sea—her birthplace. She had told Rei many times that she felt it her true home, that the goddess Aphrodite was born in sea foam and thus she felt a strange connection to the ocean. Rei felt some of this must be true. The girl simply looked too right in the sea.

The waves would gather all around her delicate body and take her gently into their arms. Rei guessed they wanted to take her down and further into them, back home.

She only wished she could hold Minako that same way.

Rei wanted to do to Minako's body what the sea did; to engulf and caress her. She fought off a certain jealousy even as she admired the way the water slid down the girl's body as she came up for air.

The material of Minako's flower print bra, when wet, concealed nothing. The pretty flower prints looked like tattoos that only decorated the girl's perfect breasts. Rei would stare at her friend's nearly nude form, transfixed.

She could not tear her vision away. But without her consent, her eyes were dragged upwards by Minako's own—she was getting stared back at.

The blonde's eyes were luminous against the dark-navy backdrop of the surrounding ocean. They were a mischievous powder blue hue. And her smile, one of immense satisfaction. Rei always hated getting caught even though she'd learned long ago that Minako _liked _being stared at.

The girl simply had a penchant for catching people's attention. It wasn't that she tried to; in fact part of her charm was her easygoing nature. She could not help her beauty, and she enjoyed watching its effects on others. Rei would sometimes entertain the thought that the blonde got a particular thrill out of catching Rei's appreciative gazes but it was most likely…wishful thinking. It was always wishful thinking.

Most likely Minako liked winning. Catching Rei being human, being sinful, _coveting. _

She would spend all her life solemn and depressed, she was sure, if it wasn't for Minako's loving nature. The girl was mouthing words at her that Rei could only attempt to decipher. But she knew, instinctively, that they were soft and beautiful. She could tell by the smile Minako was speaking through, by the look in her eyes. Yes, the words she mouthed were soft and beautiful.

And then, like the goddess she represented, Minako was swept up in a large wave, her body floating upwards amongst the sea-foam; she was escorted back to shore in a manner befitting her title.

Rei could not get that gorgeous image out of her mind.

She stood up in frustration-- sweaty, cursing lowly. Though even through her fevered mental state, she could sense the bumbling figure in the foliage. "Yuichiro! What are you doing hiding there!?" She turned sharply to face him.

Immediately, the gristly-faced boy jumped out of the shadows. "Rei-san, I um, uhn…"

Rei's face twisted up in understanding, in disgust for what she understood of the situation, "You were in there…watching me?"

"I didn't mean to!" The boy quickly defended himself, "I was sweeping, and then I saw you on this hill. You looked so beautiful under the cherry blossom tree and I…well I came to say 'hello' but then I saw you were meditating and…"

"And you decided to stay and watch!" Rei growled at him, and approached in a posture that emanated pure anger and hatred, "Was that it?"

"It didn't start out to be!"

"Then how did it go from a friendly hello to staring at me like a sex-crazed animal?" As she got closer to him, she could see her reflection in his petrified, apologetic eyes, "Even though I'm your friend, you don't have the discipline to control yourself."

Yuichiro's hands went up in a mild defense, and he unconsciously moved back from the approaching girl, "Rei…"

"You are an acolyte here! This is a place of religion…if you think these thoughts _here _of all places, then what kind of wretch does that make you?" Her eyes became pitch black, sans the usual violet sheen, and were no longer focused on the boy, "She's your _best_ _friend._"

"I'm sorry…?"

"I can see what you want in your eyes so clearly. They are unfulfilled, lustful, ugly, _shamed_."

Suddenly the boy halted his backwards movements, thereby causing Rei to close the gap in between them. For only a moment he looked at her closely, "Your eyes look the same…"

The dark orbs in question flashed surprise and hatred in a single look, "Shut up!"

"But they do!" The boy became adamant in his convictions.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

His brown eyes shone with a new hope, "I think you want me too…"

--------

Haruka's convertible was much different from Rei's car. Other than the obvious, it was _colder. _Rei's car had no air conditioning and the miko loved it that way. She hated air conditioning. Minako never minded because she was the sort to always want to drive next to an open window.

She loved to have her hair blown in Rei's car. It filled her whole seat, and tickled Rei's shoulder so the girl had to crack a smile.

"What's so funny?"

The young blonde turned to Haruka with a vacant expression, "Hmm?"

Haruka smirked, she had more than an inkling about what was going on in the girl's head, "You're smiling like an idiot."

"At least _I'm _not one." Time spent with Haruka and Rei had turned Minako into an amateur cynic. She tried, but an affectionate smile would belie her efforts every time.

"You're cute, little one."

Minako sighed deeply and sunk in her seat, "I wish _Reiko _thought so."

Sea green eyes rolled derisively; there was no getting through to some people. "Do you really think Rei is immune to your physical beauty, Venus-chan?" Of course, the ego was always the surest route to go.

"Of course not," her response was instant, "I know she looks at me…and sees the same pretty face that I see in the mirror. But that's all it is to her. Her pretty friend Minako. Her ditzy friend Minako. Never just her Minako."

As Haruka pulled up in front of the Hikawa Shrine, she turned to the now seemingly tiny, frail girl. She wished she knew what to say, but her mouth hung open as she recalled Michiru's warnings. "Love…is complicated Minako. Especially between best friends. Especially when you love a silent, subtle person who is used to being intense about everything. You and I are the types that let flows take us where they may. But Rei…she needs to be in control. Love requires a loss of that. It is probably hard for her to let go for anybody. Give her time, ne?"

Minako could feel her chin gently turned upwards by Haruka's strong hand, so she was forced to look up into her wry, understanding eyes. "Thank you, Haruka-sama."

"You're welcome, little one. Have fun with your Reiko."

The blonde opened the car door and stepped out into the clear day. She had forgotten how small and intimate a compartment a car could be. She was barely out before Haruka whizzed away at breakneck speed. _I wonder if she can even see me wave, going that fast._

Minako smiled. She practically bounded up the shrine steps. Haruka was right as she always was, with her husky words of advice, _father figure, older brother. _

Minako halted, frowned. Her mind didn't comprehend the signals her eyes were sending it. _Yuichiro…his arms around Reiko…his lips…on Reiko's._

The only coherent thought in her mind then, strangely…_Haruka's words…_"it is probably hard for her to let go for anybody." _You were wrong for once, then, big brother._

_---------_

_A/N: Thank you all very much for the feedback. I know I left it at a bit of a cliffhanger, but the next chapter will be worth it, I think.  
_


	3. To Stop or to Keep Going

Chapter 3: To Stop or to Keep Going

Rei was exhausted. Spent. Her hand gripped her bow with unnecessary force. She pulled the string back as tight as her aching muscles would allow. Biting her lip, looking through the bow's sight window, eyes narrowed in a hawk-gaze at her target—she let it go. Arrow connected to nothing. She missed horribly, and it was only after that fact that she realized how very tired she felt. She ached from the inside out.

_Minako does these things to me, _she thought with a snarl. The girl had disappeared again. As she sometimes did. As she only ever did when she was dating someone new.

_Three days without that little brat. Coming here, distracting me from work and practice and meditation; making my heart heavy with sinful thoughts. I should be…happy._

She turned and put her weapon away. Feeling weak, she turned and walked despondently to her room. She met nobody's eyes, so she had no way of knowing whether she appeared rude to any of the shrine's guests, _whether there are or aren't people here, I am alone._

Walking directly into her bathroom, she took an efficient shower. She washed only until clean; feeling strange, feeling numb. Was the water cold? She couldn't tell.

Stepping out into her room she noticed the steam that followed after her, _hot then; you'd think I'd feel that. _

"You'd be surprised the things that you can't feel, _Reiko_!" –Minako would say if she were here.

Rei turned to her mirror, staring at her naked body; pale, and flushed from the recent shower. Her slender muscles were still tight and bulging from exertion. She analyzed herself, carefully, taking time to look into her eyes. "You're crazy," she smiled, "You are absolutely crazy. Now you're making up her dialogue?"

Her mirror self said nothing. She only looked back at Rei with hollow, seeking eyes. She had not been sleeping well, she noticed. It was something she'd known, but had not yet fully registered.

_How much longer is this going to go on? Her affairs don't ever _last _three days. After a single outing she can't wait to come to the shrine to tell me about his bad breath, or his awkward humor, or his mismatched outfit. I don't ever want to hear any of it but I'd rather that than this…this nothing; this no Minako._

One last look at her own sad, naked body and Rei decided.

-----

Rei usually was not nervous talking to her friends' parents. She was actually more comfortable around adults; they were courteous and had simple feelings. Not like teenaged girls…not like Minako.

Mrs. Aino was very different than most adults, however. She was warm…you could see where Minako got her essence, her white-gold hair (though, Mrs. Aino's was of a dandelion-like texture that fanned out to frame a face warmer than a summer sunset).

Rei would be lying if she said she felt completely comfortable around the older woman. In the first place, quite plainly, Rei wanted to—for all intents and purposes—defile the woman's daughter. In the second place, Mrs. Aino bore an uncanny, and disconcerting resemblance to Minako…or, she should say, Minako bore one to her.

"Hello Mrs. Aino," Rei bowed, "I am terribly sorry for showing up uninvited, but I haven't heard from Minako in a few days, and as you know that's a bit rare…"

"Rei-san!" Mrs. Aino's smile was a sight to behold, for anyone, "Oh, Minako's been very sick these last few days, actually. I'm surprised you didn't come by sooner with soup and tea."

Rei's perplexed countenance wasn't visible to the older woman, only because her head was down. She looked like a scolded child. "She didn't call me."

"Oh," Mrs. Aino stared at the young girl, feeling an odd sense of sympathy, "Well you know my daughter. She's been too busy whining and moping at home to even pick up a phone."

Rei only nodded quietly, "Is it all right if I see her for a little?"

"Of course!" Mrs. Aino looked particularly like Minako when she smiled, "Your friend Haruka is there too."

"E-Excuse me?"

-----

Rei pushed Minako's door open carefully…she didn't want to interrupt. She didn't want to think about the things she might be interrupting.

Things like…Minako lying there, in an oversized shirt and her panties, napping while Haruka leant over her in a protective posture, an arm slung around her middle.

She wanted to turn around and go home silently, but Haruka had apparently noticed her. Her eyes still on Minako's sleeping countenance, she spoke, "Hello, Rei-san."

"Hello."

She smiled, "I'm glad that you're here."

"I…just came to make sure she's okay," she spoke, "But I should go."

Finally, the sandy blonde turned to her, "And why is that?"

Here, Rei's demeanor seemed to change; her anger was sparked. She was trying to accept defeat, damnit, "Because she's okay."

"Rei," Haruka sighed and sat up on the bed, away from Minako, "I think maybe we should talk."

"It's none of my business," Rei said coldly, "I won't tell Michiru if _that's _what—"

"This has nothing to do with me _or _Michiru," Haruka realized something then, "I'm the one that shouldn't be here. I came because she called, but it's…it's 'none of my business' to use your phrase."

Rei's eyes became dark slits, "What're you talking about?"

"The fact that you're in here, being hostile to me and throwing around accusations about my character just at the sight of me and Mina should give you a clue as to—"

"I didn't realize that you two were so intimate."

"Hmm?"

A dark smirk was flung at the lanky, handsome form, "The name."

"What do you care if Mina and I are intimate?"

"She likes you okay!?" Rei whispered harshly, feeling almost out of breath, "But I know you have Michiru too…so that doesn't make you a very good possible lover for my best friend. And if you hurt her, I won't hesitate to hurt you."

Haruka only smiled at the threat, "So you think we're lovers?"

"Are you?" The words were croaked out of a very dry mouth.

Green eyes twinkled mischievously as the sandy-haired girl clicked her tongue thrice, "It's not my place to say. And either way, I don't kiss and tell."

Rei watched in disgust as Haruka got up from the bed smoothly and grabbed her blazer from Minako's bedside table, putting it on with a suave air of indifference, "Regretfully, I have to go. I have a class soon. Please give my goodbyes to sweet, beautiful Mina-chan, ne?"

Before Rei could even blink Haruka was gone.

Without the air of animosity that hung in the room just moments ago, the space became tender. It became even with Minako's gentle breathing. Rei smiled, _somehow here I achieve the greatest peace; higher than any meditation._

Just what was it about this girl? She pondered as she sat down, first at the edge of the bed and then closer to the center, where Mina slept; where it was warm with her body. Rei could only stare in loving wonder. She watched as the sunlight streaming through the window stroked the sleeping girl's cheek, first thinking it beautiful before growing bitterly jealous of it. Without a thought, she stroked her own hand down that soft, serene cheek. She didn't know her calloused hands could be that gentle.

"Mmn, Reiko," cerulean eyes wakened to the world.

Rei whipped her guilty hand away. "Sorry, I…"

Minako's gentle gaze and reassuring hand over her own calmed Rei. The miko's guilty hand was again placed on Mina's cheek, "Have you been practicing, Reiko?"

Rei had a hard time following the conversation while Minako stared at her with half-lidded eyes and rhythmically stroked the back of her hand, "Wh—," _oh…archery, _"Yes. I have been."

"I can always tell," Minako whispered, sleep still evident in her tone, "You get so tense."

"Hmm."

The blonde smirked wickedly, before using the hand she still held prisoner between her own and her cheek to draw the miko close, "I'm going to give you a massage, okay?"

"Mina…" Rei began to protest, but stopped short. Perhaps because she knew she wouldn't win. Perhaps because she knew she didn't want to.

She laid face down on Minako's infinitely soft bed. It smelled of powder and her perfume and made Rei want to sleep for the first time in three days. As she started to settle into the position, she felt Minako straddle her buttocks and tensed up instantly.

"Relax, Reiko."

Minako's honeyed voice was like a salve to Rei's nervous spirit, and her hands were like cool water being poured onto her stinging muscles.

_Rei's back is all sinews, _Minako thought. She could feel that hardness through the fabric of her black t-shirt. With a coquettishly bitten lip, Minako demanded, "Take your shirt off, Reiko."

"What?" The miko spun her head around sharply to face her. The expression on her face was one Minako hadn't seen since the days they used to save the world, _fear._

The blonde almost regretted her bratty demand, "I thought it would make it easier to reach your ski—your sore spots…you, you don't have to."

Rei only spun silently back around, "Pull it off me then."

Looking like a kitten with cream on its cheeks, Minako fingered the very edge of Rei's t-shirt, before hooking her nails under it and dragging it up along Rei's spine, over her shoulders, off her altogether. "See how much better this is?"

Rei felt vulnerable at first; nearly half-nude on her love's bed. But the heat created by Minako's soft hands rubbing the planes of her shoulder blades, and down the length of her spine, calmed her no matter how in control of this she wanted to be. She realized for possibly the billionth time in her life that she was putty in Minako's hands.

"Reiko, you're so strong." Mina murmured, without even really realizing it. She stared at the miko's back with such blatant adoration that it was a complete shame that Rei's eyes were facing the headboard.

"Are you really sick?"

"Hmm?"

Rei repeated the sudden thought through the hazed mindset Minako's swirling hands had caused, "If you were sick, I'd be the one giving the massages here, Mina. Why are you faking?"

_She doesn't even sound mad, _Minako thought with a grin, kneading harder at the bullet-sized knots formed in the spot between Rei's neck and shoulder. "I dunno."

It wasn't what Rei wanted to know anyway, "Why haven't you been around, at all? Haruka keeping you busy?"

The innuendo went far over Minako's head, "I guess so."

"Hmm."

Minako could feel Rei's muscles tense under the soft pale skin, she could see the change in them, as if the girl was also getting ready for battle. The blonde stroked softly around her shoulders, "I saw you kissing Yuichiro; I thought I'd give you time for your new relationship. And I was also mad you hadn't told me, I'm your best friend and the goddess of lo—"

"Was _that _it?" the miko interrupted, turning around again, "Minako, there is nothing between us. He misinterpreted me."

"And you…"

"Corrected him."

"And he…"

"Is a bit incapacitated now."

The blonde giggled in relief and disbelief of her own sillyness. She should've gone to Rei sooner.

Rei turned back around and sighed deeply; at least it all made sense now. "Stroke around my neck, Mina."

The blonde smirked, tickling Rei's ribs with feather-soft fingertips, "Magic word, Rei-_ko._"

The miko would've fought back if she weren't so at peace with the world currently, "Please, you little brat. Please stroke my neck a little."

As she scooted up Rei's body slightly, Minako had to bite her lip so as not to moan at the sudden feeling. Her oversized flannel shirt had ridden up quite a bit and she had forgotten that beneath it she was clad in just her orange panties. She looked down to see the image of herself straddling Rei's behind with such a flimsy material standing in the way of her and nudity. Immediately, she looked away, and tried to concentrate on simply rubbing Rei's neck.

It didn't work. Now that she knew how exposed she was, she could feel every slight movement her or Rei made on her clitoris. As she rubbed up and down the planes and valleys of Rei's back, she could feel the most vulnerable part of herself sliding up and down the same little spot on Rei's buttocks, _I wonder if she can feel it…the wetness, or the heat._ She bit her bottom lip again, as she tended to do when mischievous or erotic thoughts orbited her head; she didn't know whether to stop or keep going.

-----

I appreciate feedback very much; if I'm just writing this story for myself then there is really no need to post it.


	4. The Chance to Tease You

Chapter 4: The Chance to Tease You

Rei's entire body was enveloped by warmth. Minako continued her tender massage, reaching parts of her body that Rei realized suddenly she'd never acknowledged before. Minako was the only person in the world that could make her body feel like anything other than a mechanical force built for precise movements.

She could feel Minako edging up to rub her shoulder blades. That's when the blonde's nude thighs rubbed sensuously against the bare skin of Rei's ribs. The miko managed to stop the moan that nipped the back of her throat but she could not tame the sharp inhale and pathetic tremble. _She's a seductress and doesn't even have to try. _

"Too hard, Reiko?"

_Darling, you have no idea, _"Just a…sore spot."

"Ohhh. Okay."

The silky hands resumed their torture of Rei's nerve endings and conscience. Love and self-hatred swirled darkly in her heart; _she's trying to be a good friend and I'm having sinful thoughts again— what's wrong with me? _Her mind failed to provide an answer. It failed to function altogether; perhaps as a result of her body's hyper-sensitivity.

Long ago, physical love had meant nothing to Rei. Love to her was supposed to be a spiritual connection one felt, and sex could never be worthy of such an emotion. But as her love for Minako began to bloom, a new feeling grew within her; an urgency. Her heart began to palpitate around the blonde, the hair at her nape would stand on end, goosebumps would rise on the skin of her arms. She realized it very slowly, how she _ached. _For months she was angry at the girl for no reason. Dreams of her hair, her skin, haunted Rei at night. And then she was forced to admit it. Rei Hino wanted for the first time in her life.

But still…it had never been like this. She had never been this close to her.

Again, silk-soft thighs rubbed against her. But also something else, something warm and covered in cotton cloth. It formed a tiny triangle of heat that pressed against the small of her back.

Her eyes bulged, she gulped as her mind registered what the source of the warmth must be. _Of course, _the voice in her head sounded about a billion times calmer than she felt, _of course the Universe would make it so she was half-naked on top of me._

The derisive thought was her last coherent one. Rei hated the part of herself that liked this. The part of herself that focused all attention on that soft, supple warm spot. The part of herself that wanted to lift her hands up from her sides and backward, grasp Minako's thighs and press her harder into herself.

She gripped the stupid pink bed sheets with shaking hands.

"I was thinking," Minako started, startling the quietly fuming miko.

"That's never good."

The blonde only smirked at Rei's usual sarcasm, "I was thinking _Reiko, _that Yuichiro isn't a bad looking boy. And that he's definitely not the first person to hit on you. But you…it never even fazes you. It's like you never want anybody. Why don't you ever want anybody?"

Rei had to clench her fists to keep from exploding. She wanted to run away from this, she wanted to turn and face it dead on. Minako was so wrong. She wanted. She wanted down to the depths of her soul. "Because," she started, her tone hard and serious as stone, "I just don't. I…have my religion. You know that. I want to devote myself to it, always. I want to be pure always."

Minako bit her lip. She was glad Rei was turned away from her. Glad that the miko couldn't see the disappointment in her face. This closeness had made her heady, as if she'd just swallowed many gulps of fine wine. She had entertained the idea of seduction many times. It was her nature, she supposed.

She drew various figures across Rei's spine. A tiny heart, an arrow across it, the emblem of Sailor Mars, the emblem of Sailor Venus—it was also the female symbol, she remembered from one of Rei's history books. Yes, perhaps seduction was her nature. Perhaps she could flirt her way into anyone's bed. But she couldn't do it to Rei. Not to her Reiko. "You know what I think?"

The miko felt like laughing at herself, she felt nearly hysterical. How can you feel a woman's tone of voice caress your insides? _Minako and her ways, _"What?" she croaked out.

"I think…" the blonde paused to slink down across Rei's back and place a coy little kiss at her nape, "I think…" the words were whispered into the spot behind Rei's ear.

Rei was feeling the world spin around her.

"I think we should drive to the mall. I'm not sick, and the others will be there today."

---

The miko had been silent most of the trip, and her usual bad mood was amplified. She felt…_frustrated._ Minako, of course, couldn't help the challenge. She made many attempts to melt Rei's icy countenance.

"I'll do anything for a smile, _Reiko-o-o,_" she flashed her own pearly grin to show Rei how easy it was. _It's so easy to smile, _she thought, _it's so easy to act._

"Anything?" Rei couldn't believe herself, _now I've stooped to frat-boy one liners?_

"Mhm!"

Sometimes Rei loved how dense the girl could be.

"Anything, just name it!"

Rei struggled to find something to say, before finally blurting out the question that had been hovering in her sub-conscious and scheming for a way out for hours, "Tell me what's up with you and Haruka."

Minako frowned, not getting it. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Is _that _how it's going to be?" Rei asked quietly.

"Reiko…"

Jealous violet eyes flitted quickly between the road and Minako's face, just long enough to see the genuine confusion written in the girl's countenance. Rei immediately softened her tone of voice, "I saw you two…being cozy, cuddling up on your bed and all. I guess I just wanted to know what Haruka meant by it, I mean God knows what's with her and Michiru but they're definitely more than friends, right? Which means that if she were trying to start something between you two it would make her a cheater and not good for you. So I asked her…and she told me she doesn't kiss and tell. Which means she's keeping a 'tell' to herself, which means there must have been a kiss…"

Minako laughed inwardly, _the most words she's spoken to me at once all day and it's about this? _She sat quietly in her seat, amused grin in place, and watched Rei squirm for once at silence. _Aren't you the one that always wants it to be quiet? _Minako had never seen Rei look so much their age before, she seemed practically childish, slumping in the driver's seat. The blonde let up as soon as she saw beads of sweat start to form on the other girl's temples, a sure sign that she was close to losing it, "Reiko, there's something you should know about Haruka and I…"

Rei steeled herself for the blow, _you better not cry in this car, Hino, not with her next to you._

"We're very similar people and…"

_Just get on with it Mina, you little brat, you beautiful girl._

"If you give either of us the chance to tease you," she poked Rei's pouting cheek happily, "We will."

Turning to Minako, Rei could see it was the truth, _there's nothing between them. _She cracked a smile.

---

A/N: Thanks so much for all of the reviews. I'm going to try and address some of the more often repeated questions/concerns. I have the entire plot of the story in my head already, so I will finish, I'm just concerned about pacing it realistically. As some of you have mentioned, the story is one of angsty, slow-moving Rei/Minako love. It's supposed to take forever, and frustrate readers. :p. I realize the story is heavily Rei-centered, however (without releasing spoilers) Minako's own feelings will culminate and climax (no dirty pun intended) in later chapters. I hope you stick with me on this one, thanks again!


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